Main quests are overrated. You'll probably get to save the world, perhaps fight a dragon or two along the way and all that jazz. We've done that all before. The real treasure lies off the beaten path, in all the extra quests and characters you discover for yourself.

Rubbish sidequests can feel like padding, which makes the whole game world feel insubstantial. Conversely, good sidequests can make a game world feel vast and interesting. We'll have to wait and see which camp Kingdom's of Amalur falls into. Will we be killing giant rats in cellars for meagre coin, or vanquishing sky-demons for magical plate-mail? US players will find out on February 7. It's out on February 10 in Europe.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom stopped being a productive human being when he realised that the beige box under his desk could play Alpha Centauri. After Deus Ex and Diablo 2 he realised he was cursed to play amazing PC games forever. He started writing about them for PC Gamer about six years ago, and is now UK web ed.